Modern

Modern is a constructed format created by Wizards of the Coast in the Spring of 2011 as a response to the increasing popularity of the Legacy format, which although popular proved difficult to access due to the high price of staple cards, as well as dissatisfaction with the Extended format of the time.[7][8] Wizards of the Coast is unwilling to reprint some of these cards due to the Reserved List,[9] a list of cards Wizards promised never to reprint in order to protect card prices.[7] Therefore, Modern was designed as a new format that would exclude all cards on the Reserved List, allowing the format to be more accessible than Legacy.

Modern allows cards from all core sets beginning with the 8th Edition core set and all expansions printed afterwards.[10] The 8th Edition core set was when Magic cards began to be printed in modern card frames, and this is where the name for the format is derived.[11] Wizards believed this cutoff would have the advantage of giving a visual cue as to which cards are legal in the Modern format.[7]

The format maintains its own banned list.[10] Cards are banned on the basis of their power level, as in all constructed formats outside Vintage.[7] The first official tournament to be held using the format was Pro Tour Philadelphia in September 2011.[12] The first Grand Prix to use the format was Grand Prix Lincoln in February 2012.[13]